Smithsonian Gives Rolling Hills Adult Ed Grant

Rolling Hills Wildlife Museum announced today that it has received a $5,000 grant from the Smithsonian Community Grant program. This competitive grant was awarded to assist in the development and implementation of The Antarctic Wildlife Expedition program and Taste of Adventure: Antarctica. These public educational programs are being produced in conjunction with the Smithsonian traveling exhibition Wondrous Cold: an Antarctic Journey. 

The Smithsonian Community Grant program, funded by MetLife Foundation and administered by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), is used to strengthen the connections between museums nationwide and their communities. The grants allow exhibitors to enhance current program offerings or to create a new program suited to the topic of the SITES exhibition that they will be hosting. Grants up to $5,000 are awarded based on criteria that each exhibitor must meet. For more information on Smithsonian Community Grants, visit www.sites.si.edu or email sitesgrants@si.edu.

“This is an excellent opportunity to encourage our exhibitors to engage their audiences in new and exciting ways,” said Anna R. Cohn, SITES director. “We are pleased with this tremendous show of support from MetLife Foundation and we recognize the impact that their support will have for museums and their visitors.”

The first event the grant will be supporting at Rolling Hills is an adult education program, Taste of Adventure: Antarctica, which takes place Sunday, September 21, 2008. The program will feature a presentation by Jo Schwartz who just recently returned from four months working for Raytheon Polar Services, part of the United States Antarctic Program dedicated to sustaining the Antarctic environment and funding scientific research. She will share with participants her experiences working at McMurdo Station, the location of much of the subject matter of Wondrous Cold. Taste of Adventure is sponsored locally by Bennington State Bank.

The grant will also support the creation of a new 45-minute Wildlife Expedition program with an Antarctic theme that will be available to school groups as a free program onsite or as an outreach program. The free program will be available during the run of the exhibit from September 20 through November 30, 2008, and will continue as a fee-based program to be available as part of our ongoing offering of education programs after the exhibit has ended. Wondrous Cold has been made possible through the generous support of Quark Expeditions and is additionally sponsored for Rolling Hills by KSN.

Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, a non-profit organization, features a world-class zoo, a state-of-the-art wildlife museum, a conference center with full-service catering, and unique educational and volunteer opportunities and programs. Located just 6 miles west of Salina off I-70, Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure is open daily 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information about Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure visit www.rollinghillswildlife.com.

SITES is the largest traveling exhibition in the world.  Each year, SITES shares the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside of Washington, D.C. One of the Smithsonian’s four National Programs, SITES makes available a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown in museums, libraries, science centers, community centers, botanical gardens and shopping malls.  SITES exhibitions range from 500-square-foot panel exhibitions for rural communities to 5,000-square-foot blockbusters. On average, SITES exhibitions visit between seven and 12 venues, staying about 12 weeks in each location.  During 2005-2007, SITES will bring approximately 150 exhibitions to 750 venues in 50 states. To learn more about SITES, visit www.sites.si.edu. 

MetLife Foundation was established by MetLife to carry on its longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Grants are made to support health, educational, civic and cultural organizations and programs. Recognizing the vital role museums play in building communities and educating young people, MetLife Foundation supports initiatives to increase opportunities and access and reach broader audiences through inclusive programming. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.